Miami football Tops Louisville 52-45 in Thrilling Back-and-Forth Clash

The cardiac ‘Canes strike again.

Following a bye week and a thrilling comeback win against the Cal Golden Bears, the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes certainly didn’t disappoint against the Louisville Cardinals. On a sunny day in Louisville, Kentucky, the Hurricanes defeated the Cardinals, 58-45 in a shootout to come away with the Schnellenberger Trophy.

After the game, coach Mario Cristobal once again mentioned “One thing that did not hurt us was our effort. We always play hard, we play with resiliency, and made some really key plays when it mattered.”

Midway through the 2nd quarter, Louisville started their drive deep in their territory, on the three-yard line. With the score being 17-14, Miami, this could have been a crucial drive for the Cardinals. Miami’s defense had other plans. Louisville Quarterback Tyler Shough handed off the ball to freshman running back  Issac Brown. Rueben Bain Jr was able to swoop in and pop the ball out of Brown’s hands which led the ball to roll into the end zone. Linebacker Raul Aguirre Jr divided onto the ball to recover the scoop and score a touchdown.

That play was the best of the day for the defense as they missed tackles and underperformed through most of the game. 

Cristobal said, “The lunging, leaving your feet, not coming to balance, that’s the stuff we got to get cleaned up and get better at.”

Miami allowed multiple 25-yard or more passing and running plays including a 43-yard touchdown run by Brown and a 28-yard reception by wideout Ja’Corey Brooks which led to a four-yard touchdown pass to Brooks.

In the third quarter, the Miami special teams unit allowed a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown that was run to the house by kick returner and wideout Caullin Lacy.

By the end of the game, Miami’s defense allowed 342 passing yards and 106 rushing yards which is the most they have given up all season.

Luckily, the offense had a tremendous showing vs the Cardinals.

As expected, Cam Ward put on a show, completing 21 of 32 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns.

Ward said simply enough in his postgame presser, “We got one of the best o-line, one of the best-receiving cores…all I got to do is put the ball in play..and they [receivers] make contested catches when they need to.”

Late in the first quarter, Ward rolled out of the pocket and flung a beautifully executed pass 27- yards to wideout Jacolby George in the back of the endzone.

In the second quarter, wideout Sam Brown Jr was left wide open in the middle of the field as Ward tossed a pass to him which Brown took 49 yards for a touchdown. Brown Jr finished the game with three receptions for 125 yards, marking his best game of the season.

When Cristobal was asked about his wideouts after the game he said, “ It’s been someone else’s day you know on each particular game. [Xavier] Restrepo always has a day so he is kind of like the x factor.”

It certainly is always Xavier Restrepo’s day. He moved up to number two in school history for career receptions and overtook Michael Irvin’s spot on the career receiving yards list, currently ranking third.

Restrepo remarked, “It for sure lights a spark in me, it means everything to represent this university and I mean the guys that I am a top of the list with are self-explained.” 

Late in the third quarter, Restrepo caught a nine-yard touchdown pass in the front of the endzone to make the lead 31-17. Restrepo ended the afternoon with seven receptions for 101 yards.

Miami’s rushing game finally came to life as they are a big reason they came away with a victory. 

Mark Fletcher Jr was a workhorse in the first half, having a 23-yard run in the first quarter and an 11-yard run in the second quarter. Fletcher Jr finished the night with 13 carries for 73 yards.

The second half featured an outburst by Damien Martinez, finishing the game with 12 carries for 89 yards. His performance was topped by a 30-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter to extend the lead to 52-38.

After a great performance by Miami’s running back, Martinez said, “ The running back room, we feed off each other’s energy big so you know one person makes a play we all want to make a play.”

Miami has been playing their best ball in many years but the team consensus is that they still have more work to do, Restrepo said, “We are so selfless right now and I feel like that is why we’re playing so well. Again, we haven’t played our best game yet, we’re working towards that.”

The Hurricanes will return to Hard Rock Stadium on October 26th at 7 p.m. to face their longtime rivals, The Florida State Seminoles.